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Muscle Shakes? Yay or Nay?

Have you ever experienced that uncontrollable shake in your body and not known if it is okay or not?

Its a fine line when muscles shake – it depends on if you are working out the muscle or stretching.

Shaking muscles is not dangerous if you are working out! It’s a different level of muscle twitch that usually indicates intense work that challenges the neuromuscular system. A shake occurs when the muscle releases its contraction and your neurosystem tells the muscle to turn back on, this back and forth continues causing a strobe light effect in your muscle that you are working.

In essence, the shaking indicates that you’re demanding more from your body than it’s normally capable of doing. It’s not a bad thing, but you can expect to be sore the next day since you’re making tiny microscopic tears in your muscles. As the muscles repair themselves, you’ll become stronger. So the more you work on those exercises that make you quiver, the stronger you’ll get and the less you’ll shake. However, when shaking occurs in strength training, it usually means that your muscle may be close to failure. So be careful walking that line and stop if you are not under MPS, Central Core, or professional supervision.

So we know shaking isn’t bad for strength training, but what about stretching?

Shaking muscles when stretching IS DANGEROUS! You are going past the point of muscle length and the “talking” between the muscle and the brain means that there are moments that the muscle is disengaged, which is a serious concern when stretching, so back off on the stretch and work within your range for the day.

Where do you get the shakes – Abs? Quads? Gluts? – leave a comment below and let us know!